The main purpose of this project is to establish the additional value of eccentric versus concentric exercise to optimize muscle function in patients with severe COPD. With this pilot project the investigators expect that an eccentric endurance training protocol adapted to severe COPD patients will lead to gains in muscle strength, the primary outcome, and cellular adaptation (muscle morphology and oxidative capacity, mitochondrial respiratory capacity) when compared to a concentric training approach.

This information will be essential if the investigators want to design and power a randomized clinical trial that will allow assessing effectiveness of this novel rehabilitation approach.

Exercise capacity (maximal and submaximal) [ Time Frame: At baseline, at the middle way point of the training program (5th to 7th week) and at the end of the 12-wk training program ] [ Designated as safety issue: No ]

Physical Activity [ Time Frame: At baseline, at the middle way point of the training program (5th to 7th week) and at the end of the 12-wk training program ] [ Designated as safety issue: No ]

Physical activity levels will be measured by an accelerometer and by the CHAMPS questionnaire.

Health-related quality of life (HRQL) [ Time Frame: At baseline, at the middle way point of the training program (5th to 7th week) and at the end of the 12-wk training program ] [ Designated as safety issue: No ]

The HRQL will be measured by the Chronic Respiratory Questionnaire

Muscle pain and creatine kinase(CK)levels [ Time Frame: Muslce pain will be assesed in the beginning and in the end of each session and CK levels at baseline, after the fisrt week of training, midway through and the after the last week of training ] [ Designated as safety issue: Yes ]

The eccentric exercise training will be performed using a specially built cycle ergometer where The pedals are driven in backward direction by an electric motor, which has to overcome the adjustable resistance of the electromagnetic brake. During eccentric cycle ergometry patients have to resist the turning pedals.

Active Comparator: Concentric exercise training

Other: Eccentric exercise training

The eccentric exercise training will be performed using a specially built cycle ergometer where The pedals are driven in backward direction by an electric motor, which has to overcome the adjustable resistance of the electromagnetic brake. During eccentric cycle ergometry patients have to resist the turning pedals.

Detailed Description:

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a major respiratory illness that is both preventable and treatable. Dyspnea is the most important symptom that COPD patients experience and this can have a major impact on their daily live. While COPD is characterized by a spectrum of disease severity, most patients experience poor exercise intolerance attributable to ventilatory limitation as well as peripheral muscle fatigue, ultimately leading to severe disability.

Endurance exercise is an important component of pulmonary rehabilitation and is aimed at preventing this decline in functional capacity. The effects of pulmonary rehabilitation are largely attributable to the exercise training component involving concentric muscle contractions, traditionally trough dynamic, large muscle exercise on a cycle ergometer or treadmill. However, many patients are unable to partake and benefit from such rehabilitation because of locomotor muscle weakness and severe ventilatory limitation that prevent them from exercising at intensities sufficient to provoke improvements in cardioventilatory and skeletal muscle function. Eccentric exercise is known for its unique physiologically fundamental characteristics: the lower metabolic demand for a same power output and greater muscle gains compared to the concentric exercise. For this reason, eccentric endurance training has been proposed as a novel adjunctive rehabilitative countermeasure for certain chronic diseases (such as coronary disease and COPD) and can play an important role for patients with advanced disease.

Patients with recent or current participation in a rehabilitation program

Patients who are currently taking Coumadin or Plavix

Contacts and Locations

Choosing to participate in a study is an important personal decision. Talk with your doctor and family members or friends about deciding to join a study.
To learn more about this study, you or your doctor may contact the study research staff using the Contacts provided below.
For general information, see Learn About Clinical Studies.

Please refer to this study by its ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT01077102